How does American sculpture intersect with the history of race in the United States?

The shape of power: stories of race and American sculpture examines the role of sculpture in understanding and constructing the concept of race in the United States. The exhibition brings together 82 sculptures created between 1792 and 2023 and ranging in size from palm-sized coins to monumental statues created from diverse media such as bronze, marble, shoes, paper, and hair. Made by 70 different artists, these sculptures are displayed to allow for juxtapositions of historical and contemporary works that invite dialogue and reflection on notions of power and identity. American sculpture in its many forms also has served as an expression of resistance, liberation, and a vital means for reclaiming identity.

The exhibition draws extensively on works from SAAM’s collection, which is the largest collection of American sculpture in the world.

The exhibition and related book, published in association with Princeton University Press, contributes new scholarship to the understudied field of American sculpture, which hasn’t been the subject of a major publication survey in more than 50 years.

The shape of power is organized by Karen Lemmey, the Lucy S. Rhame Curator of Sculpture at the Smithsonian American Art Museum; Tobias Wofford, associate professor of art history at Virginia Commonwealth University; and Grace Yasumura, assistant curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.